Philip and Jenny Cain: InspiredMumblings

Mosquitoes bite. They bite hard. Well, really, “sting” is a more accurate description of what has caused me writhing agony these past few nights. “Writhing” is subjectively over-melodramatic, and that is quite the point. I hate mosquitoes. They have no business being in my house and they really have no purpose in the grand scheme of Nature, either. Worse still, in many places of the world they are considered prime disease-carriers. Bringers of nasty stuff like West Nile, a feverish virus with flu-like symptoms that slowly eats away at your brain. Okay, I may have embellished that part, but seriously, go read the Wikipedia article for some mildly horrifying factz on the West Nile Virus.

I can’t seem to figure out where the hell these little buggers keep coming from. There’s no standing water, that’s for sure. I packed up and nearly tossed out the little indoor Zen fountain. Not even the outdoor fountain has the privilege of being operational at the moment. And yet they still attack me in full force. Having eliminated all possible sources, defense is the only thing left. My defense systems are meager - a 12-pack of Off Brand (pun probably intended) deet repellent. Man, does it smell. Awful at first, like one of those nasty industrial chemical cleaners. But then it starts to get to your head. At least, it gets to my head. And I was practically swimming in deet. Eventually the smell starts to overwhelm, and then comfort me, with a bittersweet confidence that nasty mosquitoes will avoid me as their next meal. The little blood-sucking vamps can go find some other vic. This time, anyway. I considered it a declaration of war when they entered my home, and they even had the gall to attack first. Tomorrow, the world will have a few more stupid skeeters either dead or wallowing in self-remorse and self-pity when they discover how pathetic they really are, unable to eat because of a stupid smell.

I hate mosquitoes.

Lol…I know, I know…..I can barely remember what we did that day!!!  In short, we went to the top of the Eiffel Tower.  The view was amazing.  The crowds….not so much.  Let’s see, we waited in line over an hour just to buy our tickets, then 20 mins for the elevator up to the first floor. Then switched elevators to the 2nd floor, waited in line over an hour again for the elevator to the top.  Once to the top, it was so crowded it was hard to find a place to enjoy the view.  However, we went at sunset time and it was pretty incredible!  And it was fun to see the Tower all lit up for night time.  They had it lit up in blue lights, which was pretty cool.

I’m trying to remember what we did before that, b/c we didn’t go to there until evening….Oh! We went to see the Bastille, which is the most popular non-existant tourist attraction!  Technically, there is no Bastille standing anymore but there is a monument, called the July Column (Columne Juillet) in memory of the July Wars.  It is also by the modern day Opera House so we took a look at that too.  We were right by the Latin Quarter at that point, so we explored.  Did we go see the catacombs that day? WE DID.  Oh yes, that was one of the coolest things we did! The catacombs….1 hour of underground walking, walls of bones, and a damp coolness that literally does seep into your bones.  We REALLY enjoyed this.  Ok, so it’s all coming back to me….. 1. Catacombs 2. July Column/Opera House 3. Latin Quarter  4. Eiffel Tower

Tada! The end

You know, there’s really only one reason I can think why I shouldn’t get an iPhone 3G. Our monthly rate would more than double, because right now we’ve got a cheap voice-only plan on Sprint.

There are some pressing reasons why both Jenny and I could “need” an iPhone 3G.:

• I’ve still never owned a fully bona-fide iPod
• I desperately need access to my Google Calendar when I don’t have immediate access to a computer…
• There have been at least a hundred times I’ve had to call a friend to find directions for something. Google Maps would be the best piece of mobile technology I’ve ever touched.
• With the App Store, I can load up useful stuff for work like an oscilloscope, or fake beer. =)
• Most people are surprised that I don’t have one!

Now if we could just find an iPhone 3G in stock somewhere in Tucson, we’d be good to go.

June 21st: woke up around 9:00, went down to enjoy our first full Irish breakfast here at the hotel. It was buffet style, so no worries about getting something undesirable (like black pudding!). It was a feast! I think I ate more than Phil (what?). My sleeping schedule may have adjusted, but my eating schedule hasn’t, so I’m really, really hungry at times. We enjoyed fried eggs, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, tomatoes, croissants and scones (with jam and butter, of course!) and tea.

Next we headed out for a day of sightseeing. Our plan was to find a place to rent some bikes to give our feet a break. Problem: it was raining!!! and cold!!! Problem #2: we had no jackets! (limited packing space, something easy to buy over here) So we set off in search of something warm. We got distracted along the way looking for the Irish National Library to look up Phil’s geneology. We got distracted along that way by the Irish Museum of history. This place was free (yay!) and very interesting as it went over the history of Ireland from Pre-historic times, to Viking times to Medieval times and beyond. Very cool. We didn’t find the library until later and by then it was closed, so we’ve adjusted our plans slightly to be able to come back to it Monday morning.

Next, we ended up buying tourist sweatshirts for ourselves. Mine is pretty discreet, but they didn’t have the one I bought in Phil’s size. Actually, they had hardly any in Phil’s size. All of the ones he liked were not in his size. So he ended up with one that will be nice to wear back in the states, but for now it points him out as an obvious tourist. Oh well - it’s warm, right? It’s green, although it’s not a bright, obnoxious green, that says “Ireland” on it. Hehe. Mine is blue with a little “Dublin” in the corner. However, they kept us toasty warm for the rest of the day, so yay for that since it rained ALL DAY LONG! We found these in the shopping part of town so we spent most of the day wandering this district. We also ate at a tasty little pub called “The Duke”. For lunch I had Irish stew (soooo good!) and Phil had a gammon sandwich (ham , cheese and butter sandwich on white bread - also very good!). I enjoyed a Carlsberg lager along with it. After that we wandered into St. Stephen’s Green (a park in the centre of town) which was beautiful! Next, we went into a shopping mall called St. Stephen Green Shopping Centre and wandered around that for quite some time b/c it was warm and dry! We also enjoyed an ice cream cone. Finally, we were ready to head back to the hotel and rest our aching feet. We will probably just eat dinner here in the hotel tonight since prices are comparable or even cheaper. There is some live piano jazz music at the pub on the corner that I would like to go listen to while drinking some Guinness.

Tomorrow is up in the air as we are trying to stay on another day in this hotel (not originally planned). So we will see what tomorrow brings. There are some priorities, like the Guinness Storehouse, since we didn’t end up seeing it today. Also, Christ’s Church Cathedral, Dublin Castle, and the Jameson Distillery are on the “must” list also. Stay tuned….

This is an ode to my beer buddies: So much good beer (and whiskey!), so few to enjoy it with….sigh. I miss you, beer-drinking friends of mine!

We’ve had fun noticing the differences in language and culture. Here is a list of things we’ve noticed so far, and we’ll continually update it when we find something new!

1. Instead of saying “exit” they say “way out”
2. The subway is called the Underground, the Tube or the Subway
3. Street signs are posted on building corners, not on poles
4. Fries are called “chips”
5. Restrooms are called “toilets” (on signs)
6. Chicken fingers are really little strips of fried chicken
7. Bacon isn’t in strips - it’s in big ol’ slabs (which is awesome!)
8. Black pudding (if you don’t know what that is….click the link)
9. Theaters are called cinemas
10. Vacation is called a holiday
11. TV is called the “telly”
12. The check for your food is called a bill
13. You don’t tip at most restaraunts /pubs…we came across a few that you do but even then it’s only like 12%)
14. When walking down a two-way sidewalk you walk on the left, not the right (like how they drive here) However, on escalators or stairs you are asked the stand to the right to let people pass, which is like what we are used to.
15. The U.K. airport only allows you ONE bag total through security, that has size and weight restrictions.
16. We’ve had to pay a few times to use public toilets
17. There are no Walgreens. However, in London the popular chain seemed to be “Boots”. We’ve seen no chain pharmacy in Dublin.
18. There ARE Starbucks all over (not quite as much as in America though)
19. Ham is called “gammon”
20. Butter is put on sandwiches in place of mayonnaise (and it’s very tasty!)
21. It’s standard to put butter and jam on your already-high-fat croissant (so tasty though!)

update
22. Street signs in Irish cities - there are very few or none at all!!!!!!!
23. We’ve stayed in four different places so far and none have had clocks in the room
24. At the B & B we stayed at last night the sink had the hot and cold taps come out of different faucets so that there was no way to get warm water - just cold or very hot
25. You’ll get a yellow light before the light turns green in addition to before it turns red
26. Light switches are pressed down to turn on and up to turn off (backwards!)
27. (Phil’s input) an EEE PC costs 320 euros where as it cost $299 in the US
28. Update about food: it is all about the same price no matter whether restaraunt, fast food or pub and it is really quite reasonable in euros but very expensive in US dollars. I won’t even tell you how much we paid for McDonald’s today…..

Some random other cool things we’ve found:
1. Our key card for our hotel room here in Dublin is neat! You just wave it in front of the light on the handle and it unlocks. And the card just looks like a blank, white card.
2. Our room comes with a water boiler for tea instead of a coffee maker, along with a tea cup, saucer, cream, sugar and a stirring spoon
3. Carlsberg lager is a very tasty beer
3. Most pubs stopped serving food at 8 pm or sooner (not so cool, actually very sad )
4. London and Dublin are both VERY international - so many people from all over the world all the time!!

Well, here we are in Dublin, Ireland! Here is a recap of the past few days - sorry for the gap…wifi is impossible to come by for free, sigh. Here is the recap from the past few days:

June 19th: We slept in until noon! Our bodies were still adjusting to the time change, not to mention completely worn out from all the walking the previous day. We got up, hit a local pub for lunch (steak and onion sandwich and a BLT, along with hot apple pie and warm chocolate pudding for dessert) and headed out for museums (which were free!!!!!!). We got on the tube like pros and got off at South Kensington Station. Oh yeah, over here the exit signs say “way out” instead. We first went to the Natural History Museum where we saw an impressive dinosaur display. That was the most impressive. The rest were just mammals and rocks, etc. The building was beautiful, though! Next we walked down the street to the Science Museum. We only wandered in the space section (saw some old, huge mega - computers!) After we were kicked out of the museum (it was closing time, haha!) we hopped back on the tube to Sloane Square for some shopping. This was a fancy shopping district with very high end stores that were way out of our price range, but fun to wander and people watch nonetheless. Next, we hopped the tube once more to go see Buckingham Palace. We saw it, although there were none of those crazy looking guards outside (there were guards, but dressed in regular clothes - bummer!). St. James’s park (and yes, the apostrophe “s” is supposed to be that way) is right next to the palace and very beautiful, so we couldn’t resist a stroll through it. There is a lake in the middle which offers some stunning photo opportunities. By now it was starting to get well into the evening. Another weird thing here is that it stays light really late. It’s 11:00pm right now and it is still in the twilight phase of the sunset here. Crazy!!! So we found a pub right next to the tube station and ordered some food and ale. I have to say it was the best food so far for me. I ordered a steak and potoato pie with mash and peas. It was delicious!! Whoever says that English food is bland doesn’t have tastebuds. I also ordered some authentic English Ale called Red Speckled Hen. Funny name, eh? Finally, rode the subway back to Earls court, and went to the internet cafe to print off documents needed for today’s traveling. Went back to the hotel for a much needed night of sleep. Whew!

June 20th (today) Ugh. I won’t even get into our unpleasantries we experienced today. All I can say is avoid any U.K. airport at all costs!!!!! It wasn’t horrible, but it made for a very long day. Once we got to Ireland, all was fine. We rode a bus to our hotel, which is very nice. Showered, bought some wifi access (yes, had to pay!) and set off to find food. That was tougher than it seems, as most of the pubs stop serving food at 8 pm. Again, that throws us off b/c it seems like it is 5 pm b/c it is so sunny and light outside for so late! So we walked a couple of miles checking here and there and finally ended up at….TGI Friday’s. I know, I know! But it was that or Burger King, seriously! We’ll hit the pubs tomorrow for lunch And the prices here are crazy. We thought London was bad, but here it is even worse. Let’s just say a burger costs about $20!!!!! Hopefully, prices will lessen as we hit smaller towns. So far, Dublin doesn’t feel very “Irish” and it’s a lot dirtier than London (which was very clean!!). The people are friendly enough, although we are hit up every block by homeless beggars. We are here in Dublin for another night and then we pick up our rental car. Tomorrow we hope to be able to rent some bikes so we can give our feet a break. I really want to go to the Guinness Storehouse (the brewery isn’t open to the public), the Jameson Distillery, and who knows what else. Just explore the city, I guess.

We’ve uploaded more pics, so keep checking our flickr!

June 17th: We arrived here in the U.K. on the about 9 am (on the 17th) London time. I managed to get a few very uncomfortable hours of sleep on the plane. Phil was able to get none at all! We made it through landing, customs and riding the tube in a sleepy stupor, but still managed to enjoy the pretty, green scenery that passed by. After about a 45 minute ride to our stop - Earl’s Court Station - we got off and wandered the local streets for a few hours. First priority? Finding me a bag with wheels!!!!! My duffle bag was VERY uncomfortable to tote around. Second? EAT! (airplane food just doesn’t cut it!) Third? Enjoy the town. Fourth? Find our hotel once it was late enough to check in. Fifth? SLEEP (and shower!!)

You can view our photos on our flickr site in the London set

June 18th: After some very refreshing sleep (we slept most of the night) on full bellies from this amazing Itailian place. we were ready to face some major sightseeing…after a full English breakfast, of course! We went back to the little pub down the street that we ate lunch at the day before and ordered breakfast and tea (which was delicious!). Then….we hit the tube for an all day pass and headed to Westminster!

In Westminister, we saw such wondrous sights such as the river Thames, Big Ben, Parliament, St. Margarets Church, and Westminster Abbey. We bought tickets into Westminster for a steep price ($25 each!!!) but it was well worth it! It was a multiple hour dive into the rich past history of England. We saw tombs, sculptures, paintings and architecture dating back from Medieval times. We saw the tombs of previous Kings and Queens (Edward III, Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, etc) All this was viewed with the help of a personal audio guide device, narrated by Jeremy Irons. Several hours and 4 aching feet later, we emerged into the sunlight. We scoped out any remaining picturesque spots and then jumped back on the tube.

Our next destination was Tower Hill, where resides the Tower of London. Here we were again greeted by spectacular sights and photo opportunities. We did not do the tour of the Tower of London, as it cost $70!!!!! So we contented ourselves to enjoy it from the outside. We ate lunch by the Thames, chomping on a delicious cheese and sausage sandwich from this little French bakery stand. We had a spectacular view of the Tower Bridge from where we were sitting and could not resist a walk across it, despite our weary feet. So off we trekked and actually did the unguided tour where we were free to roam the upper walkways and the steam engine room, and learn the history through some very cheezy videos. The view was amazing from so far up and it was nice to get out of the wind and cold for a bit.

As we came out we were distracted by an alley way of shops that reminded us of Diagon Alley from Harry Potter. So we explored that for a bit and then began the walk back across the bridge to the tube station. We were very glad to rest our feet for awhile. We came straight back to the hotel and collapsed into bed around 7 pm, London time. It’s now 3:19 am and I’m up blogging, trying to lull myself back to sleep!

Day 1: showering, replacing sprinkler heads last minute, trimming Phil’s hair. We are all packed and ready to go! And yes, we managed to pack all our schtuff in one carry on each. Our flight leaves at 10:55 am to Dallas/Ft. Worth….leaves for London somewhere around 5 ish.

I’m starting to think that learning French for our Paris portion of the trip will be easier than communicating with the locals in London and Dublin. Did you know a pint of Guinness is often called an Arthurs?

• British English: It’s a balmy 21 outside. Grab your chum, get some wonga from the hole in the wall, toss your bag in the boot and go fill up the petrol. If you’re heading to the cinema, you’ll need about 7 quid.
• Irish English: It’s a soft old day at 21 outside. Grab your head, get a Danny boy from the drink link, toss your bagáiste in the boot and go fill up the petrol. If you’re heading to the pictures, you’ll need about 9 quid.
• American English: It’s a mild 70 degrees outside. Grab your friend, get some some cash from the ATM, toss your luggage in the trunk and go fill up the gas. If you’re heading to the movie theater, you’ll need about 14 bucks.